Screw it
by bighairydude
Summary: What normal person would ever want to stay in a world that treated them like scum. Harry unfortunately has it in both the Muggle and the Wizarding world. 5th year Harry decides to step out, or is the decision made for him. M just because
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing. No really almost nothing. I have read more FF than I can remember so if you notice something here that was yours take it as the flattery that I am sure I meant it to be. In the world of FF there is very little original anymore.

What normal person would ever want to stay in a world that treated them like scum. Harry unfortunately has it in both the Muggle and the Wizarding world. 5th year Harry decides to step out, or is the decision made for him. M just because

Screw It.

Chapter 1.

The first part of this story comes from Order of the Phoenix.

At five to five Harry bade the other two goodbye and set off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door she called, 'Come in,' in a sugary voice. He entered cautiously; looking around. He had known this office under three of its previous occupants. In the days when Gilderoy Lockhart had lived here it had been plastered in beaming portraits of himself. When Lupin had occupied it, it was likely you would meet some fascinating Dark creature in a cage or tank if you came to call. In the impostor Moody's days it had been packed with various instruments and artifacts for the detection of wrongdoing and concealment.

Now, however, it looked totally unrecognizable. The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each one residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolour kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. These were so foul that Harry stared at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke again. 'Good evening, Mr. Potter.'

Harry started and looked around. He had not noticed her at first because she was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her.

'Evening, Professor Umbridge,' Harry said stiffly.

'Well, sit down,' she said, pointing towards a small table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up a straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay on the table, apparently waiting for him.

'Er,' said Harry, without moving. 'Professor Umbridge. Er - before we start, I - I wanted to ask you a… a favor.'

Her bulging eyes narrowed.

'Oh, yes?'

'Well, I'm… I'm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was - was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it - do it another night… instead…'

He knew long before he reached the end of his sentence that it was no good.

'Oh, no,' said Umbridge, smiling so widely that she looked as though she had just swallowed a particularly juicy fly. 'Oh, no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr. Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you.'

Harry felt the blood surge to his head and heard a thumping noise in his ears. So he told 'evil, nasty, attention-seeking stones', did he?

She was watching him with her head slightly to one side, still smiling widely, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking and was waiting to see whether he would start shouting again. With a massive effort, Harry looked away from her, dropped his schoolbag beside the straight-backed chair and sat down.

There,' said Umbridge sweetly, 'we're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we? Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr Potter. No, not with your quill,' she added, as Harry bent down to open his bag. 'You're going to be using a rather special one of mine. Here you are.'

She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point.

'I want you to write, / must not tell lies,' she told him softly.

'How many times?' Harry asked, with a creditable imitation of politeness.

'Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in,' said Umbridge sweetly. 'Off you go.'

She moved over to her desk, sat down and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Harry raised the sharp black quill, then realised what was missing.

'You haven't given me any ink,' he said.

'Oh, you won't need ink,' said Professor Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice.

Harry placed the point of the quill on the paper and wrote: / must not tell lies.

He let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harrys right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth.

Harry looked round at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toad like mouth stretched in a smile.

'Yes?'

'What the hell was that.' Harry yelled out.

'Now now Mr. Potter I see we are going to have to continue working on your temper, maybe a few more days of writing lines are in order.

'What is this?' Harry asked again.

Umbridge gave a small smile while saying ' That is a contract quill and it is the quill that you are to use while writing lines.

'Fine. ' Was all Harry said as he started to pack up his parchment. Grabbing his bag off the floor he started for the door.

'Where do you think you are going Mr. Potter you will sit down right now.' Umbridge said turning a sickly shade of red that was clashing with the flowers on her robe.

Harry didn't even slow down as he got to the door. Madam Umbridge unused to such insolence from a half-blood pulled her wand and fired a jelly-legs jinx at Harry's retreating back.

Harry could feel the spell before it was fired and had already side stepped the jinx as it sailed by. Turning he looked Umbridge in the eye 'that was a free one. Shoot a spell at me again and I will defend myself.'

Umbridge was near apoplectic at this point. Spouting with rage she ordered Harry to return and finish his dentition with spittle flying out of her fat mouth. Harry turned and started walking again. With this Umbridge fired a reductor curse at Harry's exposed back.

Listening to the old toad sputter Harry was ready for the curse as she let it fly. Turning he side stepped the curse and sent a silent depulso, banishing Umbridge to the other side of her office. Landing with a sickly thud she was passed out. Stalking up to her he looked down and could only notice just how pathetic she was. The defense against the dark arts teacher defeated by a 5th year with his back turned. Casting an incarcerous spell he bound her tightly in ropes. Reaching down he picked her wand up from where Umbrdge dropped it and pitched it out the office window before he left.

Turning away from the passed out teacher the severity of his actions started to come to him. Harry know that there was nothing that could be done now he would be expelled. McGonagall had warned him to just keep his head down, but did that mean let the old toad torture him? Just like most years McGonagall was just taking the easy way out, hell of a roll model for the house of Gryffindor. The more he thought about it the less he cared. The five years that he had lived in the wizarding world had led to nothing but pain. Friends that he had lived with for 9 months of the year thought that he was lying about the return of Voldemort. People that he had trusted to help him wouldn't even talk to him. The adults around treated him like a child. Even Sirius and Remus all but ignored him over the summer. Neither man able to take care of themselves never mind helping Harry.

And Hogwarts what a joke, the safest place in the wizarding world was a flat out lie. Every year he was attacked. Only a week into the school year and already the DADA teacher was attacking him. And it is not like you can say much for the rest of the classes. God bless Hagrid but Blast-ended-skrewts was the man insane. Maybe they are not bad for a half-giant but a 4th year is just a snack. Really all of the classes but charms and transfiguration sucked. A ghost who's only talent was to put you to sleep. A divination professor who only wanted to talk about your death. A potions professor whose greatest talent was to make his cloak billow in the wind. Maybe the other classes that Hermione took had good teachers but really what difference did it matter. The wizarding world has turned out to be a complete dude. It might have been better to stay at home with Dudders. 'Man it must be bad if I am thinking that'

'What was that dear?' The portrait of the Fat Lady asked him.

'Oh nothing, Mimbulus mimbletonia.' Harry said as the portrait swung away reveling the hole that leads to the common room.

Climbing threw the hole the common room was pretty much deserted. Being close to 5:30 most of the people were on their way to the great hall for supper, just a few 7th years off in the corner studying. . Walking up to his dorm it was luckily silent. Sitting on his bed he wondered what to do now. Dumbledore was too busy to bother with him, McGonagall didn't care. Ron and Hermione didn't understand. The fact of the matter was very few cared and he could be counted among the many that didn't any more. 'I wonder if it is too late in the term to transfer to..' He quickly realized that he didn't know about any other magical school in the country. With Durmstrang and Beauxbatons the only magical schools he had heard of the thought of a transfer quickly left his thoughts.

During this time he had been throwing his things into his trunk. Leaving out his broom he quickly filled his trunk, cast a Reducio on it and pocketed it. Opening the window to his dorm he mounted his broom and flew out.

As he headed towards the gate leading to Hogesmeade he realized he almost forgot Hedwig 'She would claw me good if she knew.'

Landing in the owlery Harry looked around for Hedwig. Finding her he could see she was staring down at him but not flying down. 'Come on girl you can't be mad already we haven't even been here a week yet what could I have done now?' Hedwig just hooted and put her head under her wing.

'Well fine if you want to stay here. I'm leaving so if you want to go with me great. Or you can try to find me in a week or so. I don't know where I'll be.'

Mounting his broom Harry looked up to Hedwig 'Good bye girl.' He said sadly, hiding the small smile on his face. Flying out of the owlery Harry could see Hedwig on his tail. 'I knew you couldn't have been that mad.' Noticing that his anger was dissipating Harry continued on towards Hogsmead.

All of this seemed too easy to him, when did he decide to leave the school without talking to anyone? It was almost like he was operating on auto pilot. Crossing the ward line of the school it became apparent why.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The set up

As Tom Riddle sat in his study he reflected on how wrong things had been going lately. The rebirth from his wraith like state had been a fiasco. Trapped in a snake like body was the biggest of his most recent disappointments. Tom, the Dark Lord to most, was always an above average student and this knowledge of magic was both deep and wide but even someone as dumb as Wormtail would know that something went terribly wrong with the potion. An analysis of the potion after the rebirth showed a snake component that was not expected, Basilisk venom. Somehow the toxin was added to the potion but Tom could not understand where the contaminant came from, the venom is very rare.

It was not until a discussion with Lucius Malfoy that he learned about the source of the containment, needless to say The Dark Lord was not happy about the loss of a Horcrux and the death of the ancient Basilisk. All that time searching and learning about how to come back, to be returned to greatness, and foiled by the same thorn that he has had in his side since Halloween 1981. How Harry Potter could survive with Basilisk venom in his blood stream was beyond Tom's understanding but he had gently persuaded Snape to look into it.

Tom wanted to use Potter's blood in the ritual for two reasons; one, the use of Potter's blood would nullify whatever protection that his mother passed to him through his blood and two, there was no denying the physical similarities that he and Harry shared. Tom had hoped that the rebirth might restore his looks to the way they were before the damage that had been caused by the various rituals he had undergone. So he had waited, being immortal allowed for great level of patience, for the perfect opportunity to get both Potter out of Hogwarts and be able to make the biggest splash, killing the Boy-Who-Lived, the hero of the Wizarding World, as he wins the Triwizard Tournament would cause panic.

Needless to say, that plan turned into a complete fiasco. From the botched ritual, to whatever it was that happened to his and Potter's wand when they dueled, to Potter escaping the grave yard, to the loss of Barty Crouch. The events of the night were not promising. If there was any silver lining from the entire night it would be that the Ministry of Magic, fool that he is, decided to turn on Potter and Dumbledore. This would provide the time that Tom needed to figure out what had gone wrong.

Tom was never a fan of divination but he was also not ignorant of the existence of true seers. When Severus brought him the first portion of the prophecy he could have killed the fool then and there. What good was half a prophecy, he couldn't have stood at the door another 10 seconds to get the entire thing. He knew that he had to act on the information that the prophecy provided and eliminate any threat that was born towards the end of July. No reason to rehash what happened with that decision.

Tom needed more information; he needed to get the prophecy to help understand what the strange power that Harry Potter held over his destiny to rule the Wizarding World. The problem here was that Tom Riddle could not just stroll into the Ministry to listen to the prophecy. So when you couldn't get to the prophecy yourself get someone else to do it.

This leads The Dark Lord to the latest problem that damn Potter has caused. Since the rebirth Tom has noticed that the connection that he has with Potter was enhanced. He was not sure how much he liked having an open connection that Potter could use to spy on him but at the same time it gave him access to influence the boy. So starting early in the week the Dark Lord started trying to influence the boy, making him angry to isolate him. The end goal was to get the boy into the Ministry of Magic to acquire the prophecy for the Dark Lord. Tom started laying down the framework to get the boy to London and then to the Ministry and finally to the Hall of Prophecy. The problem was that it took almost nothing for this to happen. With Potters ability to throw off the imperious curse Tom thought this would take months to influence the boy but the damn boy had screwed up his plans again and abandoned the school in the first week. He was not completely sure about what Potter had done before leaving but all that the Dark Lord could feel in the bond was intense anger and disgust.

'Wormtail!' The Dark Lord Hissed.

'Yes My Lord.' Wormtail responded shuffling into the room.

'Who else is here?'

'Just Crabbe and I my Lord.'

'The Potter boy will be leaving the wards any minute now headed to Hogesmeade. You will capture the boy and bring him to me. Take brooms he will be flying to the town.' The Dark Lord commanded.

'Yes my lord. We will leave at once.' Wormtail said turning to go find Crabbe.

Since the rebirth very few people stayed at The Dark Lords home. Though well protected it was also a dump, the living conditions were not that high on the Dark Lords list of needs at the moment. Many of his followers tended to stay in their own homes whenever possible.

Tom, still in his study, heard the dual pop's of apparition. Two of the most incapable followers that he had would be going up against a boy who has flown as a seeker since his first year. 'This won't go well. I need new followers.'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

All tied up.

'Come on girl can't you keep up?' Harry teased his owl as he headed towards the gate leading towards Hogesmeade. Hedwig was trying to keep up with her wizard but the firebolt was just too much for her.

As Harry kept flying the anger that he had been experiencing all week seemed to ebb away. Something about flying was always liberating to the young wizard and playing with Hedwig like this was new and enjoyable also. Feeling free Harry turned on the speed and angled to gain altitude. Flying a few hundred feet over the gate Harry could see a couple of others on brooms in front of him. Two men but they were both at a lower altitude than he was. Looking closer he could see that the smaller of the two men had a silver hand and both had white masks, Death Eaters. Immediately Harry knew it had to be Wormtail. The anger that had slowly ebbed away since leaving the castle came back with the force of a tsunami. Here in front of him was the man that owed him his life and yet betrayed him and his family at every turn.

Crabbe Sr. had been flying brooms since a young age. Playing beater for Slytherin in his 6th and 7th years he knew how to handle a broom. As he sat in wait for Potter he could see Wormtail off to his side trying to keep his broom stable. Apparently Wormtail was not that comfortable on a broom. Living as a rat for 13 years does have its disadvantages. Wormtail had been a joke of a wizard from even back in their Hogwarts days. Not that Crabbe Sr. was much to write home about in the intelligence department. But what kind of sniveling coward would choose to live as a rat for a day and here Wormtail choose to live as one for 13 years.

Seeing Potter come through the wards Crabbe pulled his wand waiting till he was in range then aimed and yelled 'reducto.'

'What are you doing' Wormtail yelled. 'We need him alive. The Dark Lord will kill us if he dies.'

At seeing the curse come at him Harry did a quick sloth grip roll and easily avoided the curse. Righting himself he dove towards where the Death Eaters sat in wait. He pulled out his own wand and cast a quick 'incindio.' After half burning his eyelids and hair off he realized that was not the best spell to cast while flying.

The spell however did affect the two death eaters. The bright light caused by the fire temporarily stunned the two. Harry decided to end this quickly and turned to Crabbe Sr. and fired a redactor followed up by a stunner. The two curses flew towards their target. Crabbe easily avoided the first spell but his path took him right in line with the second.

Peter during this time was not just sitting still. Firing 'incarcerous' at Potter in the hopes to tie him to his broom and followed it up with a stunner. Miraculously his plan worked perfectly. His aim was so off that when Harry veered out of the way he flew right into the binding spell and was not able to move out of the way of the stunner. This left Harry tied to his broom and stunned about 50 foot in the air.

What Peter couldn't see was an irate white owl angling for his head. Two large and very sharp talons lodged themselves deep into the back of Peter's neck. Peter jerked so bad that he fell right off his broom with the owl still attached to his neck. Hedwig kept clawing and pecking at the man until almost to the ground before she took back to the sky.

Harry was however in a bit of a difficult circumstance hovering 50 feet above the ground, stunned and tied to his broom. Luckily Crabbe Sr. and Peter were no longer a threat being that they both fell from such a height.

Hedwig flew up to her wizard and started pecking at the boy trying to wake him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4. Walking a beat

"Would you quit falling into me Tonks." Hissed Senior Auror Macwn Sus.

"I'm sorry I didn't see…" Tonks started to say before Sus cut her off.

"Can it, Tonks! How you became an Auror is beyond me you can't even walk in a straight line without falling. Every day that we get stuck together I go home with more bruises on me from you then any drunk we come across."

Tonks hated being paired up with Sus, the man was an old pure blood that was about as lazy as they come. Standing at 6' he was almost as big around as he was tall, too many pints and too little exercise was the way that Tonks saw it. His idea of walking a beat was going from one pub to the next. Drinking a pint or two and throwing out the drunks. Both Madam Rosemerta and Aberforth liked the man for just that reason, free bouncer.

It was as they were leaving the Three Broomsticks that both Sus and Tonks noticed the spell fire coming from the path that lead to the school. They could both see the broom riders and the exchange of spell fire.

Sus turned, saying "come on lets go check the Hog's Head."

"Are you daft? There is a fight going on lets go break it up." Tonks turned towards the path pulled her wand and took off at a trot. She could hear Sus groaning as he too turned and started following.

Tonks had only moved out of Auror training last year and as such she was often partnered with Senior Aurors around the country in an effort to give the new Auror a wide range of experiences. The fight that the two Auror's watched was fast. With just a few spells being cast it was over in seconds with two broom riders falling from a deadly height and another looked passed out hovering.

Tonks had never seen a dead person on duty until today. On the ground in front of her was what looked like a large man that had smashed head first into a rocky outcropping along the path.

"Check for a pulse before you try anything. Neither of these two look to be alive." Sus said as he panted from the short trot.

Tonks moved her wand over the first man mumbling "viscus." The diagnostic spell came back with a red zero floating in front of her. She turned and noticed that Sus had the same reading from the other man.

"Well get him down." Sus said pointing to the person wrapped in ropes slowly floating away on a broom.

"Accio broom." Tonks said trying to pull the broom down.

As soon as she saw the white Owl fly off she knew who would be on the broom.

A white light erupted behind Tonks as Sus sent off a patronus to head quarters asking for a healer and a document team to come out to the site. No reason he should have to do all of the work.

Once the broom and rider were on the ground Sus walked over to the boy and fired a stunner into his back.

"What are you doing." Tonks hissed. As the boy was coming down she could not help but notice just who it was. She had spent several cold hours flying with him just a few months ago. "Do you not know who that is? That is Harry Potter you just stunned."

"Protocol, Tonks. He was just involved in a fight that ended up with two dead people. Besides he was stunned anyway. Damn, I hate celebrities. We better call for Bones also she will want to be involved with a high profile." Sus pulled his wand and sent another Patronus off to the Director of Magical Law enforcement.

Muttering again a soft cushy chair appeared and Sus groaned, as he lowered himself into the chair.

"I hope you are comfortable." Tonks said as she was cutting the ropes off of Harry and checking him for injuries.

"How is the kid." Sus asked.

"He looks fine. Except for being hit from a couple of stunners in a matter of minutes. He does have a few pecks that look like bird bites, seems like his owl was trying to wake him." Tonks replied as she healed the spots with a quick "episkey."

Several soft pops sounded a little down the path. Sus stood quickly vanishing the chair and firing red sparks into the sky "That was fast" he said.

It took another minute for the mediwitch and the two member document team to arrive.

"Is there some reason you wanted us to walk up the hill Sus?" One of the document team said. As he started to wave his wand around the area looking for other signs of life. The mediwitch running diagnostics on the two unmoving bodies quickly switching over to the boy by Tonks.

"Just didn't want you to contaminate the area is all. You may want to wait just a minute; I had to call Bones also. I told her to pop in here." Sus replied.

It took just a couple more minutes for Bones to pop into the area.

Looking around the area she could see Senior Auror Sus talking to the on-call document team. Auror Tonks and a mediwitch looking over a boy laying next to a broom and two obviously dead bodies that lay on the ground. Black robes were common but the white mask lying nearby just made this incident more disturbing.

"Sus report." Amelia Barked walking over to the trio.

"The document team has not gone yet if you want to hop a ride and see for yourself." Sus replied. "I told them to wait since I called you." Pointing to the kid "that's Harry Potter according to Tonks."

"How is the boy Healer Tutsville?" Amelia asked.

"His vitals are all normal, it appears he is just stunned. Some anomalies from the diagnostics but nothing life threatening." The healer responded back.

Bones looked at the document team "How many invisibility cloaks do you have?"

"Just the two Boss. But you are welcome to squeeze under mine."

"How about I use one and you two use the other." She said reaching out her hand and grabbing one of the cloaks. "Do you know where we need to stand?"  
"Yes just over there." One of the document team said pointing off to the side. "No sign of recent activity."

"Sus says it is only about 20 minutes back so it should be quick." The two documenters and Amelia walked off to the side and pulled the cloaks up to conceal them as the third put the chain of the time turner over their heads. Making one half a turn and they were gone.

It was only a few seconds later that the cloaks came down and the document team was seen putting several pairs of omnioculars away. Amelia handed back the cloak and walked over to the Aurors, mediwitch and Harry.

"Do we know who they are?" Bones asked pointing to the two dead men.

"We haven't touched anything waiting for you and the document team." Sus replied back.

"Well Tonks wake the boy and let's get him back to HQ for a little questioning. Sus get me ID's on these two and only bring that info to me. I want this entire thing quiet for now. If Fudge catches wind before the report is final he will try to bury it. I have wanted to question Potter since the Diggory boy turned up dead. Bring him to my conference room. Here is a port key that will take you right there." Amelia said handing Tonks an old tuna can.

Bones popped away and Sus started grumbling. "Why do I have to do the ID's while you get to move a boy around."

Walking back to Harry Healer Tutsville stopped. "I would love to look over Mr. Potter more. There are some things that just don't seem to be right. Blood problems, lingering dark magic and general health issues. He is very small for his age."

"I will see what Madam Bones says. Dumbeldore might also want to be involved since Harry should still be in school. I wonder why Madam Pomphrey didn't catch any of this?" Tonks asked.

"Auror you do know that there is a difference between a school nurse and a healer?" Healer Tutsville said haughtily before she popped away.

Tonks pulled her wand and fired an ennervate in the chest of Harry. Tonks jumped back and fell to the ground as the boy popped up faster than she could move.

"Easy Harry it is all over." Tonks said as she lay on the ground at his feet.

"Tonks is that you?" Harry asked looking at the Auror. He offered his hand to help her back up.

"Ya champ, it's me. I am supposed to take you to be questioned by Madam Bones." Tonks said stepping forward.

"I am not leaving Wormtail here; I need him to free Padfoot." Harry said.

"No need to worry son. Neither of them is going anywhere anytime soon." Sus said walking up to the duo. "Do you know who they were?" Sus asked.

Noticing the past tense used to describe the two only dropped his head and mumbled "Damn, I needed him alive."

"Say again son. Who were they."

Tonks stepped in "Harry this is Senior Auror Sus." Grabbing a shoulder she moved her other hand to raise his face. Grabbing his chin she raised it so that she could look him in the eye. "Harry do you know who they are?"

Raising his head Harry looked into Tonks eyes in a low voice Harry said, "The one with the silver hand is Peter Petigrew. The other, I don't know. They both had death eater masks on but I was there when Voldemort gave Wormtail the silver hand, that's definitely him." His words and the look in his eyes startled Tonks with their coldness.

"Tonks I told you we should have gone to the Hog's Head. This just gets worse." Sus said.

"Do you need any help getting them bagged and tagged Sus." He shook his head as he conjured two bags and started levitating the bodies in to the bags. "I will meet you back at HQ. You are not dumping all of this paper work on me." Sus said

"I am going to get Potter to the Director." Tonks said. "Ok Harry we are going by portkey to the director's office. You ready?"

Harry just nodded and picked up his broom. Tonks grabbed his hand while she looked over at him and gave him a smile. Activating the port key they were gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Don't say a word.

Amelia rushed to her desk and started to gather items for her interview kit. It had been a while since she was this involved with an investigation but knowing that as soon as Fudge caught wind of what had happened he would either have charges brought against Potter or have the entire incident brushed aside.

"Where are the blank incident reports." She yelled out her door to her Secretary Cliodna. Being named after the goddess of beauty did the poor secretary no favors; the poor girl looked like she took a bludger to the face a few too many times.

"Here you are boss, are two enough?" Cliodna asked as she handed a couple of blank forms.

"Yes, thank you Cliodna." Amelia said as she started making her way to the conference room adjacent to her office. "I need a contract quill also. And, if anyone asks, I am in Hogesmeade following up with an investigation."

Cliodna went to her desk to grab the necessary quill. Amelia was waiting for her at the door of the conference room. "Now listen, no one but Auror Sus is to come into this room. I don't care what you have to say to keep people out but don't let anyone in."

"Ok Boss. What's all the secrecy about?"

"Don't worry about that, the less you know the better. Just keep everyone out." Amelia said as she shut the door. She knew it would only be a matter of time before Fudge found out about Potter being there and shut down the investigation one way or another.

Rushing into the room Amelia placed a set of ominoculars on a poll in the corner of the room and ensured that they were recording. She then sat at the head of the table. She put the incident reports on the table in front of the chair next to her and set the contract quill on top. Standing up Amelia looked in the Pensive that was placed in the middle of the table. Ensuring that it was empty she sat back down. Shutting her eyes she went over what she saw when she and the document team went back to observe the attack. She noticed the masks on the two men that were waiting for Potter as he headed to Hogesmeade. What were two death eaters doing sitting on the path just waiting? Somehow they had to know that the boy would be coming down the path.

Hearing a large crash Amelia jerked her wand out of her dragon hide wrist holster as she jumped out of her chair. Her reaction times as good as ever, she was looking into the far corner of the room where all she could see was a pile of arms and legs splayed out.

"Auror Tonks, get off of Mr. Potter." Amelia shouted.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Harry are you OK?" Tonks said as she tried to untangle herself from the downed teen.

A slow steady moan escaped Harry as he sat up. "I thought that I was a clutz when it came to magical transport. But I have finally found someone that is worse than me." Harry said to Tonks as she offered him a hand up.

Approaching the two new comers Amelia asked "Are you OK Auor Tonks, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes Mama." The two said in unison. Tonks looked at Harry and giggled, while he just glared at the Auror.

"Please Mr. Potter sit here would you." Amelia asked as she pointed to the chair with the blank incident reports in front of it and the perfect site line to the ominoculars.

As Tonks stumbled over to the chair across from Harry, Amelia pressed a spot on the desk making a Tea service appear. She poured a cup for Harry and herself. "Sugar, cream?" she asked.

"Sugar please." Harry said as Amelia put some sugar in his cup and handed it to Harry.

Taking a moment to test her tea and seeing that Harry was taking a sip of his own Amelia started into her questions. "Mr. Potter, can you tell me what happened tonight? I should warn you that this quill will only write the truth as seen from your perspective. Any false statements that you make will be underlined." As she spoke the quill jumped to life and started scribbling across the form. Harry having a little experience with self writing quills looked at the paper to ensure it was not embellishing his words like Rita's did the year before.

To Harry this all seemed a little unreal. It couldn't have been more than an hour since he had abandoned the school and now here he was trying to explain what had happened while coming down from the adrenalin high induced from the brief fight. Slowly in a monotone Harry described the fight as it appeared from his perspective. He explained how he suspected that the two men on brooms were Death Eaters and how he was positive that the man with the silver hand was Peter Petigrew. This revelation caused Madam Bones to raise an eyebrow but she did not interrupt. He explained that he was fired on first and only reacted to being cursed. He also said he did not know what had happened after he was knocked out.

Just as Harry was finishing his story there was a quiet knock on the door and Auror Sus came into the room shutting the door behind him. He set several files in front of Madam Bones and moved over to sit in a chair against the wall.

Two of the files held reports from the Genealogical Blood Testing and Inheritance Unit (GBTIU) and the other two files were the omniocular recordings from the document team. The GBTIU confirmed that the two dead bodies were Peter Petigrew and Vincent Crabbe Sr. Both of the dead men had the Dark Mark on their arms as well as Death Eater cloak and mask. And both died of blunt force trauma from the high falls.

Finally, this is what Bones needed to open an investigation into the claims that Mr. Potter and Dumbledore had been saying for months about the reappearance of Voldemort and his Death eaters. She had been looking for a way around the road blocks that Fudge and the Wizengamot had been placing on her. "Mr. Potter can you tell me how you know it was Peter Petigrew with the silver hand?"

"Well I was there when Voldemort gave Wormtail the hand. You see during the ritual that Voldemort used to give himself a new body Petigrew had to cut his hand off for the potion. Flesh of the servant willingly given." He finished quietly.

"Please Mr. Potter can you start at the beginning of that night. I know it must be hard but can you start from when you and Mr. Diggory finished the third task?" Amelia said.

Looking at the quill whirling away on the parchment Amelia realized that the two pages were not going to be enough. Writing a quick not she sent a paper airplane message to Cliodna for more sheets. It wasn't a few seconds more that a paper airplane dropped more sheets on the table and zoomed back out.

When Harry finished his statement about the rebirth Amelia asked, "Harry do you know what a pensive is?" At Harry's node to the affirmative Madam Bones continued, "Could I get you to make a copy of the events from both tonight and also the experience in the graveyard? It would be very helpful."

"Yes. Just tell me what to do." Harry responded. As Amelia instructed Harry how to copy his memories to use a pensive both Tonks and Sus looked at each other. The idea of sharing memories was not foreign but it was also seldom used. Most people didn't like the idea of sharing memories, it is just too personal. Besides that with the statements matching the documenters report and also with Harry signing the incident reports with a contract quill his testimony would be unimpeachable.

As Harry dropped the two memories into the pensive a quick knock was heard at the door. "Please excuse me for a moment if you would Mr. Potter." Amelia said as she stood up.

Approaching the door Amelia cast a charm to make the door transparent and saw that Clionda standing there looking flustered. Opening the door Madam Bones asked "what is the matter I said no disturbances."

"I am sorry Madam but I thought you would want to know that the Minister was just here with Dawlish and they were looking for you. I was told to give you this." She said as she handed an arrest warrant for Harry potter to Madam Bones. "I did as you requested and told them that you were investigating a double homicide in Hogesmeade."

"Thank you Clionda, that is all for now. If they come back, just tell them I am not back yet."

Shutting the door Madam Bones read over the warrant. "So Mr. Potter when were you going to mention that you attacked the Special Assistant to the Minister?"

"Well ma'am I wasn't. You see that is the reason that I was leaving Hogwarts. I knew that no matter what had happened I would be the one in trouble. It wouldn't matter that she was the one that was attacking me. After that farce of a trial a few months back and thinking about all of the innocent people that the Ministry sends to Azkaban I figured that it was time for me to leave. It's not like I was learning what I need to know from the teachers at Hogwarts." Harry's hackels were up as he said this. The anger that he had been feeling was coming back but this time he could tell it was not his anger but that of Voldemorts. But anger was anger and it tended to bleed through into his own actions.

"How about a pensive memory of that also. Maybe then you would believe me." As he said this he brought his wand up to his forehead and started to pull the memory from his temple. The silvery memory swayed from the tip of his wand as he pulled it from his head. He reached over to the pensive and dropped the memory into the basin. "Go have a watch and see what I am talking about." He said somewhat hotly.

"I can project the memory Mr. Potter but before I start the memory I would appreciate it if you would tell me what happened in your own words."

"Fine." Harry said as he started to tell what had happened from his own perspective. The quill on the table bounced quickly from word to word as he relayed the events from earlier in the evening.

"So did the quill that Madam Umbridge give you look like this one?" Amelia asked as she pointed to the quill that had been writing the transcript the entire time.

"No it was darker and the only ink that it used was from my blood." He said.

"Could you humor me Mr. Potter and sign all of the pages of transcript, the ones that cover the incident tonight and also the incident in the grave yard. Just to warn you, this will use your blood and it will sting but just for a second. And again by signing this you are swearing that this is what happened in these incidents to the best of your ability."

Harry picked up the quill and signed the first page. A faint blue pulse emanated from the parchment. As expected the back of Harry's right hand stung just after he signed his name. He waited a few seconds and signed the next parchment. "Yep, it was like this." He said as he looked at his name appearing on the back of his hand.

While he was signing Madam Bones queue up the pensive to play the incident with Umbridge. The scene played out just as described. Tonks could be heard muttering about the toad taking cheap shots.

Madam Bones was smiling as the end of the memory played. "Thank you Mr. Potter you have given me a lot of usefull information tonight. If you could just sign these last few sheets I will see to it that the appropriate measures are taken." Turning to Tonks Madam Bones said "Could you escort Mr. Potter back to Hogwarts please."

Finishing signing harry said, "No. I am not going back. And what about Sirius Black doesn't Petigrew being alive prove that Sirius was wrongly accused. What about Voldemort and all of the Death Eaters that were in the graveyard. He called them by name what are you going to do?" Harry said becoming angry again. "This is far from over."

Ignoring Harry Tonks looked at Amelia saying, "Madam, Healer Tutsville asked to have another look at Harry. She said there were some anomalies."

"Well maybe she should have a look but we can't do it here. Fudge will be on a rampage once all of the evidence is out in the open. "

"I am right here and I have no desire to see a Healer. If I am free to go I am leaving, and where is my broom." Looking like he was going to start ranting again Sus pulled his wand and fired a stunner into his back, dropping him where he stood.

"Sus. What was that for." Amelia hissed.

"I figured it was that or let him leave out the squad room and I know that would not go over well." He replied.

"Tonks get Tutsville up here and see if she can look at him in her office. If not have him checked into Mungos under a different name. Try to hide his scar if nothing else, maybe a hair charm or something. And stay with him. I will come personally when I have his arrest warrant all straightened out. Sus I hate to do it to you but I need you to inform the Crabbe family about his death. Take a couple of other Aurors with you as back up."

Grumbling "yes Madam." he stood and ambled out the door. Tonks right on his heals looking for the healer.


	6. Chapter 6

Just wanted to say thanks to those that reviewed I appreciate you taking a few seconds to write something. I am really just doing this for me but glad some other like it also.

Thanks

Chapter 6

I've been slimed

"Ah Mr. Potter I see you are coming around. 2 hours and 13 minutes, quite an impressive recovery time for being stunned by an Auror." Healer Tutsville said as she noticed the change in Harry's blood pressure.

For his part, Harry was not sure what was going on. He figured Hospital from the blurry white nature of the walls but the clean antiseptic smell was missing. Instead there was a pungent rank smell coming from the wrap that circled his head. Having very little experience in a magical hospital the sounds seemed off also. In the hospital wing of Hogwarts, Madam Pomfrey often did things quietly but here, chirps and squawks where coming from all around.

Slowly his vision began to clear but what he saw was as unnerving a sight as any he had ever had. Laying on a small bed in front of him was his naked body. A slimy orange goop smeared liberally across his body. A large band of material was plastered to his forehead and where his eyes should be was nothing but a small blue film that looked alive and moving. From his belly button a tube extended up and was attached to the bottom of a large funnel. As he started trying to move his eyes around the reality of the situation started to sink in. Harry realized he was looking around the room from eye balls that were in a jar.

Panic started to set in and the chirps in the room started to increase. The chirps went up even more once he realized that he could not move.

"Relax Mr. Potter, you are in a safe place. We are in a secure section of my office, inside of the Ministry of Magic. My name is Healer Tutsville."

Harry tried to focus on the woman but his eyes were not able to look in the direction that the Healer was talking from.

"I will remove the spell that is stopping you from speaking but you must not move any more than necessary. Do you understand? Well I guess you cannot respond to that question. So I will release your mouth but please try to relax and let the various potions and poultices do their work." With a casual flick of her wand Harry could feel his mouth come free. 

"What is going on? Last I remember I was in the conference room and now I am here. And what is wrong with my eyes? I need to know what is going on!" Harry could barely get the questions out before he was cut off when the healer flicked her wand back silencing him again.

"I told you to remain calm Mr. Potter. Now I will try to answer a few of your questions. I was the Healer on call that came out to the crime scene to look over the victims, which includes you. During my initial diagnosis I noticed numerous problems with you ranging from toxins in your blood to ritual use to extreme dark magic emanating from your skull. The quick diagnostic also revealed a weak skeletal, muscular and nervous systems. And for your eyes I was going to send them out to an eye healer at St. Mungos to get a quick fix. Eyes were never my specialty."

"Now Mr. Potter I have a few questions for you. But again I will simply silence you if you do not remain still. It is imperative that you try not to move any more than necessary." She flicked her wand again at Harry.

"You are sending my eyes out to get fixed?" Harry asked incredulously.

"It is really a simple process Mr. Potter. Have you never been to a healer before?"

"Madam Pomfrey, but I would like my eyes back. It is really making me sick."

The Healer said, "Sorry about that. I don't have to work with eyes too often and forget about the queasiness of the eyes looking from a different perspective than the body." As she got up and tapped the jar that held his eyes making the glass opaque.

"Now I have some important questions. First I would like to get a basic history so that we can work on some of these anomalies. I promise to answer your questions once I have a better idea of what is going on."

And so it began. For the next hour Harry started to answer questions about his early life with the Dursleys. He went on to describe the various incidents that landed him in the Hospital wing at Hogwarts and he described all of the various injuries that he had. With every question asked by the Healer Harry would give as much information as necessary before moving on. During this time the Healer would add some potion or other to the funnel that hung above his body or smear some new concoction to his body.

"Well that was an amazing tale. I see now why you are in such bad shape. Fighting wraiths and basilisks is not what a boy your age should be doing."

"Before I do anything further I have to let the calming drafts and the veritaserum run its course. So is there any questions that you need answered?"

"Why did you use veritaserum on me?" Harry said with more than a little anger in his voice.

The Healer just looked at him, "everyone lies Mr. Potter. My job is not to prosecute you, my job is to heal you. Everything said in this room and to me is under patient confidentiality. I have sworn an oath not to harm you in any way and without the truth I cannot heal you. Though with your permission I would like to mention some of this to Madam Bones."

Harry was amazed at the audacity of the magical world. "Who gave you the permission to do this? I want to be let go."

"I work for the DMLE. And under this department I do not need to ask a guardian for permission when someone is apprehended in the shape as you are now. You have no idea just what kind of shape you are in do you? The list of critical items is very long. Toxic venom in your blood fighting with an overdose of phoenix tears. Ritual participation. Wraith penetration. Cruciatus exposure and the list goes on."

In the background Harry heard a pop. Then he felt a very disorienting pop again. "What is going on?" He asked in concern.

"Do not worry Mr. Potter the Healer that specializes in Eye care just sent his house elf to collect your eyes. The man used to work on several batches at a time but made a few wrong deliveries. Ever since then he just works on one pair at a time. It shouldn't be long now."

A quick wave of her wand and most of the potion that was smeared on Harry was gone with only a chill remaining. "What are you doing now?" Harry asked.

"The potion that was smeared over your body pulled the toxins from the basilsik and the phoenix in your blood stream out. It took Auror Tonks and I twenty minutes to cover your entire body with it. Sometimes the potion is gelatinous and sometimes sticky. Makes it very hard to apply. I had the Auror levitate you while I started to apply it but she was not very stable in holding you so we switched positions, things went better from there."

Harry could only feel a slight embarrassment from that image. "What is on my scar?"

"That Mr. Potter is a concoction of my own doing. It will draw any dark magic from your scar. For the most part it is unicorn dung and some stabilizing agents that keep it non toxic. I just cannot believe that you have never had a Healer look at your scar before."

Harry pipped in "Madam Pomfrey looked …"

"Mr. Potter there is a big difference between a Healer and a school nurse. She might be a whiz at fixing a bone or curing a bad stomach ache but dealing with dark magic and bad eyes are left to Healers for a reason. This profession takes years of training. I would not think that Madam Pomfrey has seen too many basilisk bites. Did you know that there is a connection to your scar from someone else? Don't you worry a few more days and I will have you fixed up good as new." She said as she poured a potion into the funnel.

Harry closed his mouth and just sat back. He had to admit that beside the embarrassment of laying on a bed naked, blind and sticky from the left over goop, he was feeling better. In no time he was in a deep dreamless sleep.

"Always easy to work on them when they are asleep." The Healer said as she made her way to the door. "Tonks you can come back in, I have completed the interview. We have a lot of work. How are you at wards? I need some help creating a shield to block out the foreign connection to Mr. Potter."

As Tonks came into the room she could see Harry laying there looking small and pale. She never realized just how skinny the kid was. "Not too good. I can ask Madam Bones if there is someone that she trusts. Can you tell me the scheme you are wanting to use?"

"Yes let me write it down." Grabbing a quill and parchment she started to write. "Give this to Madam Bones she might want to bring an unspeakable into this."

Taking one last glance at Harry Tonks turned and headed for the door.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry was always a little smaller than most of his classmates. Always having more important things to worry about during his time at Hogwarts, worrying about a few inches or stones just never seemed to be that important. Until now. Looking in the mirror was like looking at his father in the mirror of Erised. No longer was Harry the small wafer thin and fragile boy that many of his classmates knew him as. Instead, now Harry looked like a man, maybe still a little on the skinny side but a normal looking man. Tall, broad and muscular. His hair had grown a lot also and hung in a pony tail half way down his back. He realized that he no longer needed his glasses to see the figure in the mirror.

"So, no snarky response?" Healer Tutsville asked cutting into his observations.

"How did you do this? I know that magic can do a lot but I would have never expected you to be able to change me like this." Harry asked.

"Well if you are ready to have a real conversation I will try to keep from putting you back to sleep." At his nod the healer gestured for him to take a seat on his hospital bed.

The smells of antiseptic in the room were more what Harry expected for a healers office. Looking around he noticed the various knickknacks that lined the office. He also noticed a desk calendar proclaiming that today was September the 23rd. How had so much time passed. It had been almost three weeks since Harry had left the school. Yet to him it seemed like only a day had passed. "What has happened to me. I really don't remember anything, anything since …"

The healer hefted a large folder showing Harry than opened it "Well let's talk about what has been going on shall we." The healer started to describe to Harry just how bad off he was. She started in chronological order describing the effects that the curse scar had on Harry and how his magic was constantly trying to fight it off. She described how the starvation and beatings that he received as a child also taxed his magic and physical body as it tried to fight off the effects of treatment his relatives subjected him to. She went on to explain how the basilisk venom and the phoenix tears were still warring in his system and what she had done to draw them out of his body. She also explained the consequences of the cruciatus curse. The reason that the curse was so bad was not just the instant pain but that the effects never really left you unless you underwent treatment. The treatment was the removal of the nervous system and having a new one grown. She also described how all of the dark magic that he had been subjected to has changed him and his abilities. The Healer talked about all that went into his treatment and how his magic should be more stable and responsive to him going forward.

"Now Mr. Potter it is not all bad. It took a team of unspeakables and several healers from St. Mungos but I think that we have it all taken care of. Once we had the dark magic removed from your scar the rest of the healing process proceeded along normal parameters. That and a little time. This is the body that you should have had if you had been treated properly to begin with."

Harry looked at his arms and legs as he sat. "Thank you. I didn't know this was all possible."

"Mr. Potter you yourself have had bones regrown, do you really think that muscle is that difficult? The only real problem that we had was your scar all the rest of your healing was achieved through normal procedures."

"Now we have more to discuss. It seems that over the last three weeks many things have happened that you need to know about. First is that many people have been very interested to know just where you are. I was able to delay this by keeping you sedated the entire time. But now that you are awake it means that very little time remains before your location will be discovered. Mr. Potter during the initial interview you brought up some items that I would like to discuss with Madam Bones. Starting with the abuse that you faced while living with the Dursleys. Harry no child should be treated the way that you were, they should have to pay for the abuse that you endured. Will you let me inform Madam Bones so that she can start an investigation?"

As Harry looked at the new him he could not believe the change in his body. Physically he felt great better than ever. His Uncle was always so fast to beat the 'freakishness' out of him. Well now it was his turn. "Yes, you can tell."

"Good, good. Now I also think that she needs to know about your various encounters with He Who Must Not Be Named. For someone so young you have already had too many interactions with that wizard. Harry will you help us and let me tell her? The rest of the society needs to know that he is not dead. I don't know what Dumbledore is playing at."

Since he had already given a pensive memory of the rebirth he couldn't see how it could hurt. "Yes you can tell her."

"Great." The healer replied as she felt her oath to hold his secrets unwinding. "Now Mr. Potter you should know that the investigation into Madam Umbridge was nullified by Fudge. You could say that a compromise was reached, you are not in any trouble for the attack and she has left the school. Once the evidence that you provided was shown to Fudge he was willing to back down a bit. Also an investigation into the discovery of Peter Petigrew has started but I would not expect too much to come of it yet. Once again Fudge is doing his best to keep the matter quiet. Bones is still trying to find a way around him to bring the matter to the Wizongamat but it will take time."

"The only other news is like I said many people have been interested in your location. During your stay here the Unspakables and I have removed every tracking charm we could find on you and there were more than a few." Reaching into the folder she presented him with a few pieces of parchment. "You should read these they are how you can check for and nullify most tracking and scrying techniques. Also this room like most in the Ministry is beyond the gazes of a person scrying for you. So you have been safe here. Your headmaster has been very demanding to get a chance to talk to you. I am not sure if he or the Minister has been making the most fuss."

Harry just kind of sat there taking it all in. To him nothing had really changed. The wizarding world still sucked as far as he could tell and sitting here listening to the Healer going on didn't add anything to change his mind. The powerfull in this world were still doing what they wanted while the rest fell into line. He had enough. Looking at the Healer Harry asked "Am I free to go?"

"Yes Mr. Potter it might take a bit to get accustomed to the new you but as far as being healthy you are as perfect as I can make you. Legally you are not in any trouble that I know of. I do know that Madam Bones would like a word or two. And I am sure that after I talk about the items that came up during your interview she will want to talk. But I am sure that can wait. I also think it would be good to talk to a counselor we don't do that much in the Wizarding world but I have a Muggle contact that knows about our world if you are interested?" She said as she started to rummage her desk for the information.

"No thanks." Harry said while standing up "Where is my stuff? I really just want to get out of here."

The Healer pulled out a miniature trunk from her desk drawer. She gave a little tap and it expanded to be Harry's trunk. He lifted the lid and saw his wand and broom on top. Underneath that was a bunch of new cloths. Grabbing a bright green shirt that matched his eyes Harry asked "Whose is this?"

"I asked Auror Tonks to go pick you out some cloths since your body has changed so much. I knew that you would need something to wear out of here."

Tossing the shirt onto the bed Harry rummaged some more till he found a simple pair of jeans and a white tee-shirt. "This will have to do till I can get to the store. Where can I change?"

"Where ever you like Mr. Potter. You have been naked here for almost three weeks I assure you that it is nothing that I have not seen before. I actually like to admire my work." The Healer said as she gave him a smirk and turned her chair back to Harry.

Dressing in record time. Harry grabbed his wand and reshrunk his trunk putting it in a pocket. "Can I ask how I can get out of here without being accosted by anyone?"

"The public flues are in the atrium as always. But you should go see Madam Bones first. She is on level two. The atrium is on level eight and we are currently on level three, just down the hall from the Obliviator's offices."

"Thanks." Harry said, without as much as a backwards glance, he opened the door and stepped out.

Stopping in a little alcove Harry pulled his wand and reopened his trunk. Fishing around in the trunk he found his invisibility cloak and pulled it over his head. Shrinking his trunk and putting it back into his pocket he started to make his way to level eight to get out of this crazy place.

Harry was never one for an intricate plan but as he thought of where to go next he knew that he had to come up with something fast. About the only option that he had was number 12 Grimmald place. The problem with that was that Dumbledore would have access to him. Maybe he could just use that as a base for a few days without letting anyone know he was there.

Taking the stairs to avoid being stepped on in the confined space of the lift he found that the steps were easy work for his new body. Getting to the atrium Harry passed the guard without a thought and headed to the fireplaces. Grabbing some flu powder he threw it into the fire and was gone.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A burst of green flame from the fire place indicated that a floo connection had been made. In the kitchen of Grimmald place, this was a common occurrence, with all of the order members coming and going the floo was often active. With the disappearance of Harry Potter a few weeks back many of the Order members were on the lookout for the boy. Even with the reassurances of the head of the DMLE that Harry was safe, Dumbledore would not feel good about the situation until Harry was back under his watchful eye. Dumbledore had been stationing members at many places in the wizarding world hoping for any information about where the boy who lived was being treated.

The floo connection this time was a little different. This time the green fire started to spill out of the fireplace. Flames rolled out licking anything in their reach scorching the mantle and working its way up the wall to the ceiling. The fire danced and as it seemed to reach a crescendo a body burst from the fire and skidded across the floor.

"Son of a bitch." Harry said as he came to an abrupt stop thanks to the stove on the other side of the room.

"Well, that was a hell of an entrance." Sirius Black said blandly as Mrs. Weasley and several other Order members jumped up from an early lunch being distracted by the failed floo entrance.

"God I hate magical travel." Harry mumbled as he rolled over onto his back and silently started taking inventory of his body checking for injuries. 'Something is wrong when I spend so much time checking for injuries.' Harry thought to himself.

Mrs. Weasley shuffled over, "are you OK dear?" As she bent down to pick Harry up realization set in as she saw him "Harry, Harry is that you? O' Harry dear you had us all worried. Where were you Harry? What are you doing here? What…" And the questions continued. Harry just laid there wondering who he had pissed off in a previous life to get ejected from a floo only to have to listen to Mrs. Weasley going on and on.

"Mrs. Weasley please, just give me a second to get my bearings."

By this point Harry had most of the people in the kitchen standing over him talking and asking questions.

The voice of Dedalus Diggle broke through the crowd to Harry's ear, "worst case of floo allergy I have ever seen."

Rubbing his head, "What the hell is a floo allergy?" Harry got out.

Lupin peered down, looking like the full moon was still a few weeks away, "some witches and wizards have an adverse reaction to floo travel. The causes can be many but for most a fluctuating magical core is the culprit. You see the floo network works off of the innate magic of the traveler in conjunction with the properties of the floo powder. For the traveler the incantation, destination that you call out, works with the charms and wards associated with the network…"

"Moony you can stop anytime now, no one needs to here a dissertation of how the damn floo works." Reaching down Sirius grabbed Harry and pulled him off the floor.

"My you have grown." Sirius said as he looked Harry in the eye before giving him a hug. "It is good to see you kid, we have all been worried about you. You sure have changed, haven't you"

"Thanks Sirius, it is good to see you too." Sirius was still too skinny with eyes that were much too haunted for a man that had been away from Azkaban for more than a year.

Mrs. Weasley butted in grabbing Harry and turning him around. "Now, it is time that you answered my questions young man. Come here and sit down." Molly tried to steer Harry towards the head of the table but Harry pushed back stopping Molly.

"Not right now Mrs. Weasley, I am really tired and am going to go lay down for a bit." Molly was having none of it as she tried to steer Harry Back towards the table. Unfortunately for Molly Harry was no longer the skinny underfed runt that he had been. "Mrs. Weasley, I am going up to my room to take a nap." Harry said as he broke out of her grip.

Molly sputtered as Harry turned to Sirius "I will see you in a few, I need a bit of a kip."

"Come on, I will walk you up kid." Sirius put his arm around Harry's shoulder and the duo walked out of the kitchen.

Walking quietly past the portrait Harry asked "Why don't you remove her?" thumbing his hand at his mother's portrait.

Sirius leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Don't tell the others but I could remove her anytime I like. Knowing that she suffers every time that she sees all of the blood traitors in her house warms my heart." He laughed with a laugh that was not quite sane.

Sirius had been making some headway in his recovery from Azkaban but it looked like being stuck in the house that he had to escape from as a child was not really helping his sanity. The house also was not changing much. The darkness of the house both in mood and lighting was almost oppressive.

Heading to the door that Ron and Harry shared over the summer Harry pushed open the door and dropped onto the bed. "Oww. What the hell is on the bed." Harry said as he started pulling things out from under the covers.

"Wait Harry you don't want to touch some of these with your bare hands." Sirius said as he pulled Harry's arm back from the covers. "Molly has been on a tear trying to remove anything dark from the house. I actually caught the old bag trying to banish some of the books and older artifacts. Didn't work very well for her but she keeps trying. I figured that yours and the girl's rooms would be a good place to hide the stuff since you were away till the holidays."

Harry pulled back the covers, the bed was covered with books and trinkets of various kinds. Looking around the room he noticed piles of books stacked around the room.

"Most of the books are safe. Moony has been removing the hexes and curses from them. He seems to treat it like it is a puzzle, no life at all that one. None of the curses seem to affect me since I am of Black blood."

Sirius worked on the bed pulling the collection of items off and stacking them around the room. "We can find you a different room if you want, there are plenty."

"I am not staying here long Sirius. I need a break and I am not going to get it here. Not with Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the Order hanging around. Hell, I am surprised Dumbledore is not here yet."

"What about school? If you are not in Hogwarts there could be problems with your standing in the wizarding world." Sirius said, "I am not really sure but I think the ministry could snap your wand if you drop out without an OWL."

"I have to say, at this point I don't really care Sirius. I don't really see anything in the wizarding world worth staying for. One week I am the hero and the next a deranged psycho. Listen, I really would like a nap. We can continue this later."

Sirius finished moving the things from the mattress and remade the bed with a sweep of his wand. "OK kid it's all yours. I will come get you in a few hours." Walking out the door Harry dropped on the bed again but this time without the pain associated with falling on a mattress covered in trinkets and books.

Looking at the night stand Harry picked up a book "Mugging a muggle and Twelve Other fun things to do on a Friday night." 'Lovely. I wonder if this is the book used in muggle studies?' Moving that book aside he picked up the next, "Managing your muggles and charming new staff." 'I must have found the muggle section of the Black family library.'

Opening the book to a random page Harry sat back and started to read. He only read a few pages in the book before his eyes become too heavy to hold open as he drifted off to sleep.

In what seemed like no time Harry was awoken by the screeching tones of Molly Weasley outside of the bedroom door. Sirius was being just as vocal and the quiet voice of Albus Dumbledore was trying to calm the duo.

Realizing that his sleep was over Harry grabbed the book from his chest and returned to reading. It wasn't but another minute or two before someone knocked on the door.

"Come in, it is not like I could sleep anyways with all of the noise you lot were making." Harry said pushing himself up so that he was sitting up a little more on the bed.

Sirius walked in with Albus following close behind, Molly took up guard at the door.

"Sorry Harry, they couldn't wait until you were done napping. Been gone for three weeks but one more hour would have been too much to ask for." Sirius said while giving Molly a look.

Albus conjured a chair and sat down. "It is good to see you Harry, you are looking well, how are you feeling?"

"Fine Professor. It is amazing the changes that fixing a childhood of starvation can have." 'It is interesting that he is willing to talk to me now,' thought Harry.

"I am sorry about that I knew that your childhood would be hard but I never foresaw your Aunt starving you. Well Harry, are you ready to come back to Hogwarts, I must say that your friends have been very interested to know about your condition and location, as have I."

"Sorry Professor but I have no intention of ever going back to Hogwarts. I don't see that I have anything to go back to. As for friends, I am not sure that I have every had any. It seems that with just a quick word from you they completely stopped talking to me this summer. Actually the same could be said for my Godfather." Harry said turning to look at Sirius. "It is interesting that this is the first time that you have talked to me since you told me that I had to go back to Privet Dr. at the end of last year. Even at the Trial you couldn't spare me a look. So Professor, tell me why should I go back to Hogwarts? Some new adventure or safety measure you need tested out?"

Albus put on a sad face and stood, vanishing the conjured chair. "Harry, a talent like yours should not be wasted. I must insist that you come back with me. Your education is imperative especially in these dark times."

"Are you senile?" A gasp from Molly entered the room. "Have you looked at the teachers that you give us? A ghost whose only talent is that he has the ability to put every class to sleep. In five years the best defense teacher has been a werewolf with a Death Eater as a close second not to mention that all five have attacked me. Hell, I even had to kill one as a firstie. Snape, who can only teach by pointing at a board and swishing his cape like he wishes he was Batman. How about divinations, in two years I have only heard Trelawney give one prophecy that was not about my death, I think that Ron has a better track record and he just makes stuff up. Even my Head of House only listens to herself talk. I guess I should say that Professor Flitwick does make learning charms fun so I guess you have one competent teacher. But for the rest of the professors I am sorry sir but calling them bad would be a bit of disservice to bad teachers everywhere."

"I assure you Harry they are among the best teachers around." Dumbledore said while doing his all knowing pose.

"How sad then. By the time Riddle was sixteen he had already made a conscious diary, what class did I miss where that was taught. Even Wormtail was able to become an animagus, I have searched the library over without a hint on how to become one. Tell me professor in what year would you teach how to create the polyjuice position? "

Albus took off his glasses rubbing the lenses on his robes, "It is not taught at Hogwarts Harry, and the book that you and Ms. Granger used in your second year has been removed from the library. The consequences of brewing a bad potion could have been worse than the fate that Ms. Granger experienced. I also removed the books about becoming an animagus some time ago for similar reasons."

Molly gasped again at the thought of a second year making polyjuice. Sirius for his part had a small grin on his face.

"Professor this discussion is pointless. I am not going back, period. I see no reason to stay in the wizarding world. In the five years that I have known about this world I bounce from being the savior of the wizarding world to being a nut. All at the same time as fighting for my life every year. Since you seem to know everything that goes on in the school did you know that some of my own dorm mates think I am nuts? This is not a stranger on the street this is a guy that I have been living with nine months of the year for the last four years. You would think that if anyone was to believe me it would be him but he doesn't and all because of the articles the Prophet prints. Well, like I said before professor none of this matters, I am not going back. Now I just have to figure out how to explain to the muggle schools how I am so far behind in my education. Good day Professor."

Harry scooted back down in the bed and grabbed the book and flipped to a random page.

In the background Harry could here Molly and Sirius arguing as they stepped outside the room. Albus stood there for another moment. He could tell that Harry was furious and was just able to keep from exploding. "Can I ask what you are reading, Harry." Hoping to get back to some form of conversation with the boy.

"Actually, maybe you could tell me if this is still the law. It says here that if a muggle sees a wizard perform magic or otherwise notice any unique item of the wizarding world, it is the wizard's duty to obliviate the muggle, if capable, and if not notify the DMLE."

"Are you reading a law book, Harry? Yes that is still the law. The Statue of Secrecy is one of the highest laws in the wizarding world and the maintaining of secrecy is often seen as more important than any other action. Harry I can tell that you are very angry about many things so I will leave you for now but I will be back and we can talk again. Have a good evening Harry." Turning towards the door Albus Dumbledore left Harry to his reading.

AN. Yes it has been awhile, been kind of busy. I stole the floo allergy thing from some story really don't remember who. Hope you don't mind. And yes I know the chapters are short. It just seems easier for me to post what I have when I have it sorry if it irritates you too much. Otherwise thanks for the reviews.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ugh" Harry groaned, as he flung _13 Ways to Harness a Horntail,_ at Remus's retreating back. He sure whished he would have had that book a year ago. Harry had only been at Grimmauld place a little more than a day and it seemed to be a never ending procession of people stopping in to explain to Harry the errors in his thinking process. Little did Harry know but supposedly the Wizarding world was the only place that he could live a fulfilling life, at least that was what the constant procession of people thought.

Harry was just interested in a couple of days of laying low as he tried to figure out what his next move was. He knew that the ability to stay in Grimmauld place unmolested was rapidly coming to an end. If nothing else the time between interruptions had been interesting. The list of spells to remove tracking charms from Healer Tutesville had shown him that in only a day most of Harry and his things had been hit with a variety of tracking charms. He could only figure that everyone expected him to make a runner at anytime, he thought this was remarkably insightful considering the logic used by most wizards. Thanks to the instructions that he was given by the Healer he was able to easily transfer the tracking charms to the bed. At least most would think that he was stationary.

The most interesting revelation was that he could do magic outside of school. After Sirius woke Harry up, with a bucket of cold water, Harry fired off a tripping jinx out of reflex. Realizing his mistake Sirius let Harry know how the underage magic detectors actually worked. Monitors were set up around the homes of muggleborns at the first reported incident of accidental magic or when Hogwarts reviled there name as a candidate to the school. Wizard parents are "encouraged" to not let their kids use a wand outside of school unsupervised but there is no real way to account for who is doing magic in any given area. Just another way that the wizarding world was biased against muggle born kids. If magic was detected in an area it was just assumed that the local muggleborn was the culprit. Sirius did say that the Ministry had ways to detect magic across the country but it was often unpractical since everything from a wizard to a house elf to a post owl could set off the magic detectors.

When Harry asked about why over the summer they had to clean the house without wands Sirius replied that Molly did not want her kids to know that they could do magic outside of school. She felt that the twins were bad enough as it was and she was concerned about Ron hurting himself.

The rest of his time Harry tried to spend in his room to avoid all of the order members that stopped by to "just have a talk" with him. At meals most just sat and gawked at his scar, a few told him how bad the muggle world was and yet the only thing they knew about it was to watch out for lorries.

A knock on the door let him know that his next visitor of the day was here to convince him of the great things about the wizarding world. He wondered how long he could wait until they just walked in. Giving up he called "Come in."

The door open to reveal a stunningly beautiful blond woman, dressed in a tee shirt that looked to be a size or two too small, the jeans that she wore looked as if they were painted on. The shirt was stretched across her chest exposing a bare midriff. Now this is the type of Order member that Harry could see talking too.

"ello 'arry I was wondering if I could ave a word?" The woman asked in a very heavy French accent.

"Sure…come on in." Harry stuttered as he tried to sit up and straighten out his shirt.

"You dropped something yesterday and I just wanted to return it." The woman said as she walked over to Harry and set her purse on the bed. Bending at the waist in front of Harry giving him a view of two of her better assets. She started to dig in her bag that was obviously much bigger on the inside then the outside. The women's long blond hair fell in front of her face making the view less accessible. With a quick "there it is" the women pulled out a green shirt. As her head lifted up her hair rapidly turned a blood red color and her face morphed into that of a devil horns and all.

"ahh" was all Harry could get out as his attention was pulled up by the change in hair color. The devil faced creature hit him in the head with the shirt. He quickly tried to back away from the devil women but she grabbed his legs and pounced on him, straddling his legs pinning him to the bed. The devil opened her mouth and started hissing "I go out of my way to buy you nice things and you repay me by sneaking away and leaving a shirt behind." A wand appeared in her hand and the devil cast a rictusempra point blank at Harry.

Harry couldn't help laughing as the spell connected. He wiggled around the bed helplessly as the devil morphed into the more common face of Auror Don't-say-my-first-name Tonks.

As Harry gasped for breath he managed to get out "I am sorry Tonks. Really" as she held the spell on him.

As he wiggled and squirmed underneath her Tonks could tell that Harry was not the little boy he was just a few short weeks ago. Harry traded in a boy's body for that of a man and a handsome one at that. She lifted the tickling jinx but continued to straddle him. Harry looked up at her with a gleam in his eye. "Tonks, have you ever seen someone wear that color green, it's awful. Maybe not so bad around wizards since they have no fashion sense at all but I was raised muggle."

As Tonks pouted she asked, "So how did you like my devil face? I have been working on it for some time now. I figure I could wear it on Halloween to scare the kiddies that come looking for treats."

"The Devil face is nice but your blond, French girl had my attention pretty fast." Harry said with a smirk.

"Typical man, see a set of tits and forget everything else. At least you noticed my hair was blond that's better than most." Tonks said as she stuck out her chest and began inflating it.

As Harry stared at her expanding chest he noticed that it was starting to lift the shirt again. "Doesn't that hurt to change your body around that much? It looks like the fabric is about to rip."

"Only you would worry about ripping a shirt when I am making my chest bigger. Most men would be more interested in how big I could make them or even in me making them so big that the shirt does rip. And no for the most part I can shift my body to anything I want. Some people and faces are easier than others but for the most part I can look like anyone."

Noticing parts of Harry starting to inflate Tonks got off of him thinking that the teasing might be going a little far. Tonks crawled up to the headboard to sit next to him. "So, what are you reading?" She asked nonchalantly as she grabbed the book that Harry had set down.

"_Memory charming Muggles the Ministry way._ Planning to wipe a memory or two are you? I think this is a restricted book." Tonks said as she started to flip through the book.

"No, Sirius was hiding a lot of the Black library in here trying to keep the books away from Mrs. Weasley. It looks like he put most of the dealing with muggle section in here. I get the impression that the Black family wasn't the best when it came to how they treated muggles. I almost wonder if all of the things that Kreacher mumbles about are true, you know the chains and such in the basement." Harry Said.

"My mom says that the Blacks were pretty dark bunch and that she was happy to be kicked out of the family. Though most of the time I think she is just saying that, I am not sure anyone would want to be kicked out of their family. You know."

"I don't know. I am planning on kicking myself out." Harry said. "I really just want to get away. I am tired of it all. The people in the wizarding world just all do what they want to anyone. It is like since they can do something it is ok. Look at even what happened to me since I left school. Granted, I am happy to have this new body, but I never asked for it and even told the Healer that I wanted to leave as she was getting going. And look at how that Auror that you were working with just stunned me in mid sentence. Not to mention how Dumbledore pulls the strings in the background so much." Standing up and walking to the window, Harry looked out. "It is like they do with the muggles; every time something happens the Ministry just shows up and starts wiping memories. I have seen what happens when that spell goes wrong, granted Lockhart deserved it but still the man lost all of his memories. It makes me wonder if I have been memory charmed or messed with in some other way."

The room was quiet for a minute before Tonks started to talk. "Harry being a wizard, having this kind of power can tempt a person. As an Auror one of my jobs is to try to protect people, muggle and wizard, from the actions of others. There are so many ways that a wizard could hurt a person that it is often difficult to even determine if something has happened. Between memory charms and the imperious a wizard could wipe out an entire family and leave no witnesses. As for you I would say that you are fine, if you can shrug off an Imperious curse than I would think that an obliviate would have no chance of sticking. So what is the real problem Harry, is it just a matter of having no control in your life? You know that most people feel the same way?"

Walking back and sitting on the edge of the bed Harry said "I think so. It seems like every year something else happens. All that I wanted was a nice quiet year last year and the whole thing blows up. First the tournament then Cedric dying and Voldemort coming back. Then the Minister and the profit coming after me. I think the detention with Umbridge was just the straw that broke the camel's back. At the time I was so mad I just wanted to get away and I didn't care where I was going. Of course Voldemort had to send Wormtail after me."

"Harry what are you going to do are you really going to leave, quit Hogwarts and everything? Do you have any plans?" Tonks asked.

"I love learning and doing magic but I am not sure the price I have to pay at Hogwarts is worth it. Besides most of what I have to learn at Hogwarts doesn't really help me. When dueling Voldemort about the only spell that I could think to use was expelliarmus. He is throwing AK's and all that I can think of is to disarm him. Most of what I need to learn I will never learn at Hogwarts. As for where I am going I am not really sure. I know that I have to get out of here. Between Dumbledore and the rest of the Order I will never get a moments peace, no offence. I know I shouldn't have come here but I really didn't have anywhere else to go. I don't think it is safe for me to stay in the Magical world. So that leaves the muggle world and really other than with my Aunt and Uncle's I have only ever been to …." Harry trailed off as he got an evil look on his face.

"Tonks, can I have that book back for a minute." Taking the offered book Harry started to flip through the book looking for the section on memory charms. After practicing the wand movements a few times Harry tried out the spell. "Obliviate" he called out while using the correct wand movement. The nearly invisible spell impacted the wall of the house having no effect.

"There is a little more to it than that Harry. When you are performing the spell the trick is to concentrate on the memory or sequence of events that you want the person to forget." Tonks said. "You should also flick your wand when you are thinking about what you want the person to forget." Standing up she walked around to stand beside Harry and demonstrated on the wall. "Really as far as casting the spell it is very easy. The difficult part is concentrating on the event you want the person to forget. Also for a wizard you have to use more power than you would on a muggle. This should all be taught in your 5th year charms class. But with you leaving and all I guess you will never learn it."

"Can you show me the confunds charm also. It looks like that would come in handy."

The next few minutes were spent with Tonks teaching Harry how to do the confundus charm. The charm was almost too easy to learn considering the amount of damage that could be done with it.

"I hope that I don't regret showing those to you." Tonks said as she went back to sit on the bed with Harry taking a seat at the writing desk next to the bed.

"I promise not to over use them Tonks." Harry said with a lopsided grin.

"Harry I did come here for more than to yell at you about the shirt. Madam Bones really wants to talk to you; she was a little grumpy that you skipped out without talking to her. She has more questions about all of the things that Healer Tuteville told her about. She also wanted to talk to you about the investigations about the rebirth of you-know-who and also about getting a real trial for Sirius. She would like you to go to the Ministry as soon as possible."

"I don't know Tonks do you think that it would really help. It seems that the Ministry just does whatever it likes."

"Madam Bones is a good woman Harry I am sure she will help."

"If you think it's a good idea I will go but I have to get out of here first, if you help me make my escape I will go with you to the DMLE. Think about it Tonks I am leaving one way or another wouldn't it be safer if I was with an Auror on my own? Besides I am sure it will be fun, at least for me."

Tonks thought about it for a minute. He was right it would be safer if she was with him but she also knew that the Order would not be happy with her for helping him leave.

By this point Harry was packing his trunk with all of his clothes and most of the books that were lying around the room, he figured Sirius wouldn't mind too much. A soft tapping from the window let him know that an owl wanted in. Going to the window Harry could see Hedwig Tapping on the frame. Opening the window Hedwig flew in and landed on his shoulder. Cawing and chirping at Harry, the owl seemed to be checking the boy over to make sure that he was alright. "I'm fine girl. All better really. You have good timing I was just getting ready to leave." At this the owl made a mad squeak and took off, batting Harry in the head a few times with her wing, to land on the writing desk.

"I was going to wait for you, honest. It's not like you couldn't find me where ever I go." He said as he tried to pet the owl while dodging her beak. Tonks just sat on the bed giggling.

Harry turned to Tonks "well giggles are you going to help or not?"

"Yes I'll help. So what's your plan?" At this Sirius walked into the room.

"Plan did I hear plan, I just can't tell you how disappointed I am in you Harry, if anything haven't I taught you to fly by the seat of your pants who needs a plan." Sirius said as he walked in and leaned against a wall.

"I told you yesterday Padfoot that I wasn't going to stay long. I figured that this was as good a time as any to go. And you don't have to worry Tonks said that she will help."

"So you have an Auror escort. I guess that will be ok. In all seriousness Harry where are you going?"

"I can tell you are serious Sirius so let me tell you. First I need a distraction and that is where your part comes." Whipping out his wand Harry pointed it at Sirius and cast the Confundus Charm at the man. Doing as Tonks taught him he concentrated on what he wanted Sirius to think. Sirius became a little glassy eyed and said he had to run as he turned to the door and moved quickly down stairs.

"Come on Tonks we won't have much time." Harry said as he shrunk his trunk and put it in his pocket. Opening up the window he said to Hedwig, "ok girl you can stay here for a bit to rest or start following us. I think we will be settled in a few hours and you can follow then, whatever you want." The owl flew out the window as Harry grabbed his trunk shrinking it and putting it in his pocket.

"I do have a condition Harry; you must wear the green shirt or no deal." Harry and Tonks both turned to the door. They could hear a mixture of laughing and yells from the kitchen.

"Come on Tonks we don't have much time."

"Green shirt or no deal." Harry knew that he had to get out quick or Sirius would have his revenge. Whipping off the shirt he had on, Harry put the green shirt on. "Ok can we go now?"

"Where too?" Tonks Asked.

"The park in Little Whinging to start, I need to get an address." Harry Said. He could hear Sirius yelling and making his way up the stairs.

"Faster Tonks, we have to go." Tonks seemed to be taking her time knowing it was making Harry nervous. Just as she grabbed him and started to spin into her apparition Sirius came into the room with a red hand print on his face. The last thing Sirius saw was Tonks holding a laughing Harry as she spun away.

Landing in the park in Little Whinging both Tonks and Harry fell to the ground. "Well that was a little better at least we didn't land on each other this time. I think that I like apparition a little better than the port keys." Harry said as he stood up and reached out to help Tonks up.

"I heard about your floo allergy. That might actually work out for you. You can apply for you apparition license early if you have a real allergy." Tons said as she stood up dusting herself off. "So what did you do to Sirius?"

"I made him think that he had to kiss Mrs. Weasley. I hope someone was in there so we can find out what happened. Based on the hand print I am guessing that Mrs. Weasley didn't take it too well." Harry said with a grin.

"If I was you I would stay away from him for a bit, you know that he will retaliate." Tonks said. "So what are we doing here?"

"I know the perfect place to hide out for a bit. It is a nice country home, quiet and lots of room. No neighbors nearby and only one person lives there but I am pretty sure that she is going to go on a trip today. Do you want to wait here while I go get the address or go with me?"

"You aren't getting out of my sight anytime soon mister." Tonks said back.

Harry pulled out his trunk to grab his invisibility cloak. Grabbing the cloak and shrinking the trunk Harry held out the cloak and ushered her under. "I have had to do this with Ron and Hermione a few times. It's easier if we put an arm around each other's waist."

Tonks climbed under the cloak and the two of them had to stand pretty close to each other to be able to walk and keep the cloak around there feet at the same time. "So Harry how many times have you had Hermione under this cloak?" She said saucily.

"It was never like that Tonks. We were just friends. I am not sure what we are now. I am not sure if we ever were friends."

"Don't be so dramatic, of course they are your friends. So they listened to Albus Dumbledore and didn't write. You do know that the whole time I was at Hogwarts the Headmaster never once talked to me until he handed me my diploma. There are very few people in the world that would not do anything that the man asked. He is so well respected that even with the hack job that the Ministry and the Prophet have been doing lately many would still do as he asked."

"I wouldn't really know. He has been talking to me since first year and honestly the man seems senile most of the time."

Harry and Tonks walked around to the back of number 4, Harry reached out to try the door which opened. It looked like the Dursleys were all in the sitting room watching the TV. The duo shuffled over to the cupboard and Harry reached out to grab a folder inside that had a long list of names and addresses. Scanning his finger down the list he found what he was after. Marge Dursley, committing the address to memory. Harry replaced the folder that Tonks and Harry left the same way they had come in.

Once they were back in the park Tonks asked, "What is it you are planning to do Harry?"

"I was going to have you apparate us to Aunt Marge's house. I am going to make her think it is a good time to maybe go to the continent for a little or long vacation. It will be the perfect place to stay since no one knows about her.

"I don't really like doing this Harry it just doesn't seem right."

"Tonks have I told you about how this old bat treats me. The women used to set her dogs on me when I was little. The summer before 3rd year she had me so mad I used accidental magic on her. Really we won't be doing anyone any harm by sending her to France for a few months. Well the muggles might start a war trying to get her to leave but that is about it."

After a few more stories Tonks reluctantly agreed and Harry told her the address. "It is time that I gave you your first lesion in apparition. The Ministry person that taught us would go on and on about the three D's in performing Apparition: destination, determination, and deliberation."

Tonks took a few minutes to explain the whole experience to Harry and told him to try to feel the magic during apparition. She grabbed Harry around the waist and popped the two of them away.

AN: Thanks for the reviews if you like it or not.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Marge Dursley lived in a small country cottage that had been in the Dursley family for many years. Marge enjoyed living in the country for the solitude where Vernon could not wait to get into the city. For Marge the country provided her with the ability to live how she wanted with little influence from the outside and even less interaction with the many people that didn't live up to her expectations. This solitude worked out well considering that aside from a few fellow dog lovers the women did not really get along with many others.

With Ripper on her heal, Marge headed out to her kennel to feed her breeding stock for the last time that day. As Marge reached her kennel she heard what she could only figure was the sound of a shotgun firing. She looked around but could not determine the location of the noise so she continued on to the kennel. After a few short minutes of feeding and watering the dogs she returned to an old chair sitting in the court yard where she sank into her chair with a grown only the aged would understand. Ripper ran back to Marge and sat near the side of her chair.

With a low growl, Ripper rose up and pointed at the side of the house. Marge could hear someone coming around the side of the house. With so few unannounced visitors she figured it must be her neighbor, Col. Fubster, checking on the gun fire from earlier. "Ripper, sit." Marge said and the dog responded immediately. Marge had trained her dogs well and would not tolerate their misbehavior. Sitting up and trying to clean herself up a bit a person she never expected, or wanted, to see came around the corner.

"Hello Aunt Marge" Harry said.

Standing in front of Marge was that damn runt, of her sister in law's bloodline. Standing next to him was a women in her mid twenties that was dressed like a floozy as far as she could tell. Ripper sensing the change in her master rose up again and got ready to attack.

"What are you doing her, boy" Marge barked as she struggled to get out of her chair. Ripper took another step towards the boy that he recognized as a former chew toy.

"I just came to send you on a vacation, for a month or two. How your finances, I have a few quid that you can spare if you need it?" That was as much as Harry got out before Marge ordered Ripper to attack. She would not be ordered around by this whelp of a boy.

As Ripper ran forward Harry raised his wand and cast a quick stupefy at the dog. The red light of the spell flew out and connected with the dog sending it flying backwards and rolling on the ground. "Harry you shouldn't use human spells on animals, stupefy was designed to be used on humans specifically. For small animals a simple Petrificus Totalus works best or even an Impedimenta or Incarcerous." Tonks said reminding him of Hermione for a minute when she would fall into lecture mode.

Marge looked like she too was about to charge as she looked at what had happened to her dog. "What did you do to Ripper" she said with a shrill cry. Bending over to see if the dog was OK she too was hit with a spell dropping her next to the dog.

"Harry, what did you do that for?" Tonks asked a little frazzled.

"I was getting tired of listening to her Tonks. That women grates on my nerves." Having the ability to do magic was liberating to Harry. Dealing with his relatives was always a problem but now it was just too easy. Granted the Ministry still monitored Privet Drive but here Marge would not bother him again. The only time that Harry had been to Marge's cottage before he spent most of the time doing the work around the property or being chased by the dogs, Marge called it exercising the dogs. Harry hated this bitch.

"Tonks, can I confound her while she is out, or does she have to be awake?" Harry asked.

"She should be awake, Harry. I really don't like this I think this was a mistake we should just leave."

"Why don't you go check out the kennel out back she has a lot of puppies that she sells maybe you will see one that you like." Turning back to Marge, Harry cast an enervate on his dear Aunt.

Marge gradually tried to push herself off the ground. She was not sure what was going on all she knew was that she was on the ground with Ripper near her. As the cobwebs started to clear she looked back to see that little runt, well maybe not so little anymore, of a nephew smiling at her. "Well Marjorie, it is time for us to talk." Harry said as he levitated her off the ground and dropped her into her chair.

Marge had a mixture of confusion and fear in her eyes but she was the alpha in her house. "I want you to leave, now." she tried to say with a confidence she didn't really feel.

"Now dear aunt is that any way to treat your nephew. Oh wait you are not my Aunt and I am not your nephew, I am just the spawn of a bitch as you like to say. I guess I don't have to be nice to you after all. I want you to think what it was like to come to visit here as a little kid. To be chased and bit by your dogs and all you did was laugh. Really, I don't know why I bother, I know that you would never have any sympathy." Harry prepared his thoughts to take the memory of her home from Aunt Marge, the best way to keep her away would be to remove her home or that she ever had one, from her memory. With his mind set he cast the spell. "Obliviate" Harry said. He was not too sure what would happen, it seemed like the spell took a long time to complete but in the end Marge just sat there confused. Figuring he should finish and get rid of the women he prepared for the second spell. Harry created an image in his mind of the actions that he wanted his aunt to take. Gathering up his will Harry cast "Confundo."

Marge, looking perplexed picked herself up from her chair and waddled over to Ripper and gathered the dog up. Still somewhat stumbling Marge wandered into the house.

Harry sat down in the now vacant chair and noticed that Tonks started to walk back over. "So Tonks, do you know how to cast a muggle repelling charm?"

Tonks approached carrying a little puppy bull dog. "It's not too hard but for a ward you will have to renew it every day or so. You could have a warder setup something that would keep people away."

"For now can you just show me the charm, if I stay here for anytime I will figure out how to ward the place. Did you find a new friend?" The puppy she was carrying did look kind of cute.

A few seconds later Marge came from the house carrying a bag in one hand and Ripper in the other as she headed over to her car. Getting in she never even looked at Harry and Tonks as she backed up and drove off. "Do I even want to know" Tonks asked.

"It is not that bad. I told her that she had to get Ripper to the vet she went to in Majorca a few years back. I figure she will be gone for a week or so that should give me time to get my bearings. Now for the muggle repelling charm." He didn't tell Tonks but Harry hoped to never see his bitch of an Aunt again. And to Harry a couple of spells was worth it to be somewhere that no one knew about. Or at least just Tonks.

Tonks showed Harry how to perform the repelling charm and he led her into the house. The place was a little sparse only one bedroom was furnished with the others holding various knickknacks.

Tonks sat on the couch with the little puppy. "Harry, I am not sure how I feel about this, it seems wrong to do that to people, a push here or a shove there is one thing but... This is getting out of hand. Maybe we should go to the Ministry and get the meeting with Madam Bones over with. That was your part of the bargain."

"That and this hideous green shirt." Harry said back. "Going to keep the dog?"

"Not sure, I am sure that your Aunt would miss this one, he is a cute little thing."

"I will leave a few quid, that should even it out if you want to keep the puppy. Are you sure Madam Bones would see us uninvited." Harry asked.

I am sure that she would be happy to see you whenever you visit." Tonks stood from the chair, "Let me pop this little guy home if your sure it is ok." With a nod from Harry she apparated away.

It had been about 15 minutes since Tonks had left and he was already starting to wonder if her being with him was such a good idea. Granted she had taught him a few very useful spells and popped him around the country but when he was thinking of leaving Grimmauld Place the thought of a straggler was never in the plans.

When Tonks popped back into the sitting room the concerns that Harry had with Tonks presence just seemed to melt away and his attitude improved. Tonks was just here to help after all. "Well are you ready for the trip to the Ministry?" Tonks asked looking hopeful.

Standing up Harry walked over to Tonks. "Now Harry I am just going to try to guide you while you do your own apparition. Now remember your three D's."

As Tonks talked Harry through the process one more time Harry had a clear picture in his mind of where he wanted to be and made sure to be determined to be there. With a tiny "pop" the two were gone.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

With a soft pop Tonks and Harry reappeared in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic. The lobby was somewhat quiet as they had arrived in the middle of the work day. Tonks gave Harry a grin and arm and arm guided him towards the security check in. Flashing her Auror badge she said to the guard, "Taking a witness up to the DMLE." Looking board the Wizard at the desk didn't even glance up from The Daily Prophet as Tonks and Harry went past the check in.

Heading towards the elevator the pair dodged witches and wizards and the various messages flying through the air.

With a ding the elevator doors opened and the duo entered the elevator alone. "So what am I doing here?" Harry asked. "What could Madam Bones want?"

"It will be ok Harry she just wanted to go over some of the things that you and Healer Tutsville talked about and some of the complications with your treatment. You know that the Unspeakables were called in to help with your scar?"

"Ya, the Healer mentioned that it took more than a few people to get me to where I am now. I really should thank her again because with each day I feel better. I have not had a headache since I woke up and I used to have them for days on end. I have also noticed that my magic seems, easier somehow. I picked up the Obliviate and Confundus charm quick. It used to take me quite awhile to learn new charms."

"Let's keep the magic over the summer quiet Harry, I don't want to get in trouble for teaching you those. And please don't mention any of Aunt Marge around here; it could really get me in trouble."

"I promise Tonks, not a word."

The elevator chimed and a voice spoke out "Level 2." The duo stepped off the lift and headed for Madam Bones office. Arriving at the office the secretary looked up from her desk, "Can I help you?"

"Auror Tonks and Harry Potter here to see Madam Bones." Tonks spoke out with her official voice.

"Just a moment Auror." Cliodna said giving Tonks a wink. Noticing the byplay Tonks staged whispered to Harry "We were in the same house at Hogwarts. It's good to keep it professional when at work."

Cliodna got up and knocked on Madam Bones door before stepping in. A moment later she walked to the conference room door and opened it. Gesturing to Tonks she said, "Auror, you and Mr. Potter will be in the conference room, Madam Bones will be just a few minutes."

As Tonks and Harry walked into the room the walls turned a deep red. Tonks looked abashed and pulled out her wand. "Why did the walls change color Tonks?" Harry asked.

"Just forgot to do something Harry." Tonks pointed her wand at Harry and cast a "Finite" at Harry's green shirt.

"What was that for?" Harry asked.

"Just wanted to make sure that we had this conversation at some time Mr. Potter. I asked Auror Tonks to get you back here so we could talk so I assume that she felt a Confundus charm or maybe a Trust me charm was needed to get you to comply." Madam Bones said while walking in the door.

Tonks was taking off a necklace that she had on and tapped it with her wand ending a second spell on the necklace. With the collapse of the second spell the walls of the room went back to normal.

"So you had two spells on me? What was the second one for Tonks?"

"We all knew that you were about to make a runner from … where we were … and the risk to yourself was just too great, someone had to keep an eye out for you. I figured that if you were going to run it would be best if you had someone around. The others thought it was a good idea so I had a Trust me charm on the necklace and a Confundus on the shirt I gave you. If it makes you feel any better I am not sure the Confundus was working at all. It was supposed to make you want to come here to talk to Madam Bones but I still had to convince you."

It was evident that Harry was pissed. As he pushed his chair away from the desk and started to stand.

"Where are you going Mr. Potter?" Madam Bones asked.

"I am leaving. I am done with this. I am not sure why every person I know feels like they can just use me."

"Quit acting like a child and sit down. There is much more to all of this then you understand. We need to work together on this Mr. Potter our world is in terrible danger I don't think that you truly understand what is at stake."

Being accused of acting like a child didn't win Madam Bones any points with Harry but he was interested to hear what such a threat was. Deciding to stay he slowly sank back into his seat. "So what is it that I don't understand Madam? I have been having run-ins with Voldemort for years what's different now?"

"This time the Muggles are the real threat." Harry was not expecting Madam Bones to say that. "Harry how much do you know about our world, the Magical world." Looking at him he gave a shrug and she continued on. "Right now in the United Kingdom there is about 100,000 magical users.

Harry not realizing the size of the magical world looked up "How can that be, there are what 400 kids in Hogwarts?"

"Actually there are 337 students in Hogwarts right now and the number has been slowly raising the last couple of years due to you vanquishing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. After that Halloween, the birth rate has gone up every year increasing enrolment and should continue to do so for at least the next few years. But the vast majority of the magical users in the United Kingdom don't have the power levels that they would need to enter Hogwarts. Hogwarts is the premier magical school but not the only school and there are many apprentice programs throughout the kingdom. I am telling you this because I know that you were raised muggle."

"Really this is interesting and all but why are the muggles a worse threat than Voldemort?" Harry said.

"You have to understand that the muggles are not as helpless as many think that they are. The speed at which there technology is changing is dangerous for us. There are even reports that they have traveled to the Moon and that they have machines that take pictures of Earth from outer space. The latest rumor is that they can communicate instantly to anyone in the world but I have as yet to see any proof of this."

"There called mobile phones, you can get one anywhere." Harry said gruffly.

"Interesting… You must understand Mr. Potter the Statue of Secrecy is all that prevents the fall of our world. With the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the indiscriminate killing that he and his followers committed last time in the muggle world. If the same thing happens this time, I am afraid that there are not enough Obliviators in the Wizarding world to prevent the muggles finding out about our world. If the general muggle population finds out about us the outcome will be devastating."

"Why can't you just hide behind muggle repelling charms or Fidelius charms." Harry asked.

"Mr. Potter in your short time in the Wizarding world you have had the benefit of being associated with many of the most powerful members of our society. For many in our world we tend to specialize in the areas of magic that we can perform. For the average witch or wizard, outside of law enforcement has never needed to cast a shielding charm. Just as most in law enforcement are not proficient in the construction of magical trunks or wands or any of the other items that are used in the magical world. The same is true for warding an area to repel muggles. The Ministry tends to contract out much of this work to the Goblins since there magic seems to be more adapt to area wide effects than a wizards. By using the Goblins in this way we also form common bonds with them to help in our relations. Our society has members at all levels for the items that we require such as farmers, woodsman and even potters, and iron mongers. We are getting off track here. The main goal, from my perspective, is to limit the exposure that the muggle world has with the magical world."

"Shouldn't your goal be finding and dealing with Voldemort and his followers? If they are gone it will keep the muggles from finding out and all of our problems are solved." Harry Said.

"The problem with that is that the people that you named as supporters are very influential people in our world. Even if it is proved that they are supporters many if not most people in the wizarding world agree with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named they may not agree with his methods but the influx of muggle born into our society is very dangerous for its continuation. Each new person that tries to live in both magical and muggle worlds just makes it that much more difficult for us to keep the secret. Even I wish that the muggle born were not allowed in. For each muggle born makes my job harder. We only have a few muggle experts in the Ministry and Arthur is over worked as it is."

Harry realized that Madam Bones was just like all of the other pure bloods that worked in the Ministry; she was completely ignorant of the muggle world and considered herself above the muggles. She was not concerned about the muggles that were killed but about the backlash that the killings would have on the wizarding world.

Harry could not believe what he was hearing. "Arthur Weasley is your muggle expert?" At Madam Bones nod. "Don't get me wrong the man has been very good to me but he knows almost nothing about the muggle world. Why don't you get some muggle born to work for you."

"Muggle born in the ministry, it will never happen Mr. Potter. We have tried in the past but it just never worked out. They just never fit in."

Harry stood "I will be going now. I can see talking to you was a waste of time."

"Wait, we have not even talked about charges against the Dursley's." Madam Bones said as she too stood.

"I don't care about the Dursley's do with them what you want. Good day."

At this Tonks stood also and started to follow Harry to the door.

"Leave me alone Tonks, I don't want to see you again." Harry said as he picked up his stride trying to move away from the Metamorph.

"Harry wait." Tonks tried but Harry would not even look at the Auror. Instead of taking the lift back to the Atrium Harry took the steps two at a time trying to get to some distance between him and the Auror.

Passing the Security check in point Harry looked back and saw that Tonks was right there. He thought of his Destination with Deliberation and Determination he popped away just as Tonks got an arm on him.

The two landed on the ground outside of Aunt Marge's cottage in lump. Again Harry let out a sigh as he tried to figure out where he stopped and Tonks started. In Tonks haste to catch up to Harry she didn't realize that he was about to Apparate away from the Ministry. It was only pure luck that she had not left parts of her scattered from the Atrium all the way to Aunt Marge's cottage.

"Damn it Tonks what have you done now. I guess spying and manipulation weren't enough, you had to go and get your hand wedged into my shoulder."

"Don't worry Harry I can fix this. I just need to get to my wand. A splinching is not that bad to fix, just a little disorientating." Letting her wand slip into her hand Tonks started the process of separating her left hand from Harry's shoulder.

For Harry it also gave him time to get his own wand out. Over the course of the last few days he has finally seen what living in a magical society means; might makes right. The wizarding world was superior to the muggles because they had the power. Wizards such as Dumbledore and Riddle could do what they pleased because they had power. Even the lesser Wizards and Witches could do what they want if they had the power of the Ministry of Magic behind them. Here is Tonks who should have her own power that is played like a puppet from two who are more powerful.

"Let's see what she will do for me." Harry mumbled.

With another swish of her wand Tonks separated her hand from where it became attached to Harry. "There we are love, no trouble at all." Tonks said as she was holding up her hand and flexing it to make sure it still worked. Without warning a spell impacted on her chest sending her flying backwards while at the same time sending her wand flying to Harry.

Skidding to a stop she looked up to see that Harry was holding her wand and was not looking to happy. "I am sorry about this Tonks, really I am, but I can't have you running around telling others where I am and what I am doing. I need someone that is on my side and with you reporting to Dumbledore and Bones I don't think that you can be it. I think it was a mistake to bring you along and now it is time to send you on your way."

"It's ok Harry I will go, just give me back my wand and you won't see me again. I promise." Tonks tried to talk her wand free from Harry but he continued to stalk towards her.

"It's not that simple Tonks; you know where I am at. And really what good would it be to just turn you lose to go back to your two masters, wouldn't it be better to just have one?" Pulling from what he had learned from the Black library Harry set to work. Who would have thought that _Managing your muggles and charming new staff _would have had any good ideas in it. Aiming his wand at the still back peddling Tonks Harry hissed out "Obliviate."

AN

I don't like this chapter but this is what you get. I have been fighting with it for some time and this is what I am sticking with. I have always wondered why madam bones in most fanfiction is portrayed as this savior for Harry. It seems that most of the people in the wizarding world from JKR books looked down on the muggles and I don't know why M. Bones would be any different, especially considering just who seems to get promoted in the MOM. I also have to think that if Mr. Weasley is one of the ministry muggle experts then the others in the MOM would know even less than he does about the muggle world considering just how bad the magical world seems to look down on muggles. With those two facts you have to conclude that few if any muggle bourns end up working in the ministry at all. Facts, Ha, this is fanfiction anything goes.

Thanks for reading.


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